Boat driver allegedly three times over legal drink-driving limit when Matthew Price died after propeller hit

Camera IconMatthew Price died after he was hit by a propeller of a cabin cruiser on the Murray River. Credit: Amy Price / Facebook

A boat driver was more than three times over the legal drink-driving limit when he started up the propeller of a cabin cruiser during a boozy day on the river last year — allegedly causing fatal injuries to a friend who was still in the water.

Matthew Price, 27, died after being hit by the propeller of the Striper Seaswirl boat during a day out with friends on the Murray River in February last year.

For the past week, his friend Jim Currie has been on trial in the District Court accused of culpably driving a conveyance which caused the death.

Expert medical evidence has indicated the lowest his alcohol level could have been at the time was 0.176 per cent per 100ml of blood.

During the trial, Mr Currie did not dispute that he had drunk about 10 beers on the day.

Prosecutor Craig Astill said that level of intoxication had to be relevant when deciding whether Mr Currie appreciated at the time the potential danger of starting the propellers.

The trial was told Mr Currie and a number of friends, including Mr Price and his wife Amy, had been enjoying the water and each other’s company before a planned lunch at the nearby Ravenswood hotel.

Mrs Price said she remembered her husband allowing her to climb back on board first, and presumed he was right behind her as she towelled off on deck.

It was only after the propellers fired up, and they realised Mr Price was not on board, that the full horror emerged.

Prosecutors allege Mr Currie took a dangerous and unnecessary risk when he engaged the propeller while Mr Price was either still in the water or on the ladder climbing into the boat.

But defence lawyer Shane Brennan argued Mr Currie was sure he had seen his friend on the boat in the seconds before he put it into gear — and even if he had been mistaken in that sighting, he still honestly believed his friend was on board.

It was suggested the 27-year-old may have jumped back into the water, or fallen in, in the 10 seconds between Mr Currie seeing him and putting the boat into gear — and evidence showed his blood alcohol level at the time was 0.174 per cent per 100ml of blood.

In summing up the case yesterday, Judge Laurie Levy said there was no doubt of the scale of the tragedy, and the impact it had on those who witnessed it, including Mr Price’s wife.

But he also urged the jury to put that empathy aside when trying to decide whether Mr Currie was criminally responsible for his friend’s death.